Difficult Subjects

Badia Ahad-Legardy is Associate Professor of English at Loyola University Chicago, where she was recently named “Master Teacher” by the College of Arts and Sciences. In addition to her scholarly pursuits, Professor Ahad is the Director of Training and Master Coach for the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD). Since 2011, she has organized monthly guest expert webinars and multi-week courses for the professional development of university administrators, faculty members, and advanced graduate students. OiYan A. Poon is an assistant professor of Higher Education Leadership at Colorado State University. A nationally recognized scholar on the racial politics of college access, affirmative action, and Asian Americans, OiYan received a 2014 Emerging Scholar award from the American College Personnel Association and was a featured keynote speaker at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education in 2013. Dr. Poon currently serves on the editorial board for the Journal of College Student Development, Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity, and as a reviewer for the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Amerasia Journal, and the Journal of Asian American Studies. Lori D. Patton, Ph.D. is Department Chair of Educational Studies and Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. Patton is known for scholarship on critical race theory, diversity initiatives on college campuses, Black women and girls in educational and social contexts, and college student development. The author of over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and other academic publications, she has received national awards for her scholarship including being ranked among the top 200 educators in the US. She is frequently sought for expertise on education topics.

• Foreword—Lori Patton Davis Acknowledgements Introduction. When the Shit Hits the Fan, Do We Throw Out the Lesson Plan?—Oiyan A. Poon and Badia Ahad-Legardy Part One. (Dis)Comfort, Fragility, and the Intersections of Identity 1. A Conversation on Challenging and Using Comfort-Zone Racism in the Classroom—Rucha Ambikar, Daniel Guentchev, and Dennis Lunt 2. When Racially Just Teaching Becomes Your Own Heart. Pedagogical Strategies for Teaching Whiteness—Cheryl E. Matias, and Lisa Silverstein 3. Addressing Incivility in the Classroom. Effective Strategies for Faculty at the Margins—Chavella Pittman 4. Whiteness Matters. Tourism, Customer Service, and the Neoliberal University—David J. Leonard and Paula Price Groves 5. Black Lives, Black Women, and the Academy. “Doing” Equity and Inclusion Work at PWIs—Nicole Truesdell Part Two. Embracing Embodiment and Emotion as Pedagogical Praxis 6. Feeling Our Way to Knowing. Decolonizing the American Studies Classroom—Adriana Estill 7. Feeling Black and Blue in Preservice Teacher Education. Encountering Emotion and Embodiment in Antiracist Teaching—Esther O. Ohito and Sherry L. Deckman 8. Transformational Pedagogies of the Abject Body. An Argument for Radical Fat Pedagogies—Breanne Fahs 9. “The Least We Can Do”. Gender-Affirming Pedagogy Starting on Day One—Erica Chu 10. Creating Inclusive Classrooms. Toward Collective and Diverse Intersectional Success—Dian D. Squire, Azura Booth, and Brandon Arnold Part Three. Radical Pedagogy in "Neutral" Places 11. A Call for Difficult Conversations Around Diversity in STEM Courses—Thomas Poon 12. Diversity Matters in the STEM Classroom—Jennifer S. Fang 13. Between Critique and Professional Ambition—Akhila L. Ananth 14. Uncomfortable Learning. Teaching Race Through Discomfort in Higher Education—Jasmine L. Harris In Closing. Difficult Subjects for Difficult Times—Badia Ahad-Legardy and Oiyan A. Poon Editors and Contributors Index

“Difficult Subjects could not have come at a better time. It offers keen insights and guidance without being prescriptive. It offers critical social analysis while still being pragmatic and accessible. As educators grapple with the tensions the current administration poses, this text serves as a beautiful and necessary counterbalance as we collectively try to regain our humanity.”Nolan Cabrera, Associate Professor, Center for the Study of Higher EducationUniversity of Arizona“Both teaching and learning are deeply social endeavors, shaped by our identities, involving interactions across multiple axes of difference, and often taking place within high-stakes contexts. This volume is a crucial intervention not only in illuminating the many challenges we face as university faculty who want to teach 'difficult subjects' but in providing a road map for many who themselves have been cast as 'difficult subjects' to find ways to be effective and to thrive in the academy. Extremely timely, this book provides both new and veteran critical educators with critical insights for doing our work in these tough times. Together, the experiences and the concrete strategies shared across the chapters of this volume help provide a roadmap for navigating changing university environments and for persisting in the crucial work of teaching students to think critically about race, gender and sexuality. This book is a must-read for both those who are new to the classroom and those who are looking for support and sustenance to persist."Amanda E. Lewis, Professor of African-American Studies & Sociology, and Director of the Institute for Research on Race and Public PolicyUniversity of Illinois at Chicago“Through Difficult Subjects, Poon and Ahad-Legardy offer a necessary compilation for our time. In an era of increasingly fraught community dialogues about the no-no’s of 'polite' conversation – race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, and class – college campuses cannot pretend to remain neutral. In contrast, these scholars’ experiences as teachers and educators of fields from the humanities and social sciences to the natural sciences is both challenging and inspiring. As argued in this volume, 'pedagogies of critical literacy' are essential and relevant in every field of study. This book should be required reading by faculty and administrators at every college and university that portends to embrace equity and justice and claims to be about the business of developing the leaders of the next generation.”Dafina-Lazarus Stewart, Professor, School of EducationColorado State University